Ex-Christie aide lands at GOP firm

A central figure in the George Washington Bridge scandal looming over New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie quietly accepted a job at a top Republican consulting firm late last month.

Bill Stepien, who ran both of Christie’s gubernatorial campaigns, signed on to help the phone-banking and data giant FLS Connect with sales and strategy on its voter contact products, according to a source with knowledge of the relationship.

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Sheila Berkley, the company’s president, acknowledged the hiring in a statement to POLITICO. “FLS Connect is excited to have Bill Stepien join our team,” said Berkley, who is also a partner in the firm. “His extensive national experience and knowledge will be an asset to our clients and our company.”

Emails released as part of an investigation into the apparently politically motivated closure of lanes on the bridge showed Stepien was kept apprised of the resulting traffic problems and made light of them.

Responding to news reports in which a mayor who had run afoul of Christie complained about the traffic, Stepien responded in a private email to another Christie aide: “It’s fine. The mayor is an idiot, though. (Win) some, lose some.”

Christie has insisted he had no knowledge of his aides’ roles in the closures, and expressed disappointment in Stepien over the email. “Reading that made me lose my confidence in Bill’s judgment and you cannot have someone at the top of your political operation that you do not have confidence in,” he said at a marathon press conference in January, during which he cut ties with Stepien.

The aide who Christie had days earlier called “the best Republican operative in the country” went from being the governor’s choice to help run the New Jersey Republican Party and the Republican Governors Association — not to mention a likely prospect to run an anticipated Christie 2016 presidential campaign — to being out of a job.

Landing at FLS puts Stepien right back in the center of the action ahead of the 2014 midterms — and the 2016 presidential election — and potentially opens a door back into Christie world.

FLS Connect, a Minnesota-based firm with deep ties to the GOP establishment, was paid $68 million in 2012 by Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, a host of congressional candidates, big-money groups and party committees, including the Republican National Committee and the New Jersey Republican State Committee, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

In 2013, FLS worked on Christie’s reelection campaign, which paid it at least $61,000, according to state campaign filings.

But a source familiar with Stepien’s arrangement said he is not working on any projects related to the governor.

Stepien did not respond to requests for comment from POLITICO.

He and fired Christie aide Bridget Kelly are fighting subpoenas for information related to the closures from a state legislative panel, which released more emails Monday showing Stepien’s close monitoring of the situation.

After the new emails were released, Stepien’s lawyer told The Associated Press his client had done nothing wrong. The documents “thoroughly discredit the committee’s desperate attempt to paint Mr. Stepien as a central figure in the lane-closure controversy,” said the lawyer, Kevin Marino.